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by John Unrein A sunny October day was greeted by the roar of parents, spectators, and a good chunk of the Grain Valley High School student body as Cate Barnes sealed the Lady Eagles Class 2 District 5 win against the Capital City Cavaliers on October 5th. Barnes single match win combined with that of fellow junior Brooklyn Spencer gave the Eagles a 5-1 advantage in victory. Joining Barnes and Spencer were Finley LaForge, Kylee Bragaw, Emma Thiessen, and Delaney Thurn in winning all three doubles matches that provided the Lady Eagles with breathing room at the outset of the match. “This was fun today. My team did really well. I have been in this position before (playing the deciding match) at Blue Springs South last year and it was awesome to bring this home today,” Barnes said. “The lob shots during my second set were about positioning, but I am used to that in practicing against Emma Thiessen as she uses those a lot. What we do in practice helped me today and I knew we were ahead 4-1 as a team as my match went on.” This season has seen the Lady Eagles tennis team compile a 21-2 record prior to entering district play. The group also boasts five individual players that have qualified for State tournament play in LaForge, Bragaw, Thiessen, Spencer, and Barnes. The win against Capital City now assures that the entire varsity team will advance in State tournament play as well with sophomore Thurn and senior Kate Unrein rounding out the group. A fact that left Lady Eagles Head Tennis Coach Randy Draper all smiles after the match. Draper showered praise on his team and assistant coach while drowning out the sun in his signature black Greg Norman golf hat. “We knew after seeing Capital City play in our individual district that this was going to be hard today. The Cavaliers only other loss was against Columbia Rock-Bridge. I thought coming in that we had to win at least two doubles matches and we swept them. That definitely gave us breathing room,” Draper said. “We ended 5-1 but that is misleading of how close or competitive things were today. It also could have ended 8-1 (as a final score). Unrein had fought back and was in a tie break, LaForge was up a set in her second, and Thiessen had turned her match around as well. I was very proud of our singles play and hopefully the close matches we faced today will pay off next week in the quarterfinal.” The emotion of the last month with Senior Night and District play has brought to the forefront the positive regard Draper has for his team, especially this year’s group of seniors. Draper conveyed how much he has enjoyed his time with them and getting to navigate through the process this year with new assistant coach Jessica Williams. “This team is full of a ton of kids that have worked at this, and it has been awesome to watch. I have traditionally written each senior that has played tennis a card and couldn’t bring myself to write them this year. I told these seniors you are going to have to give me a pass this time around as I am not ready to say goodbye,” Draper said. “I trust Coach Williams because I know who she played high school tennis for and the girls like her and have responded well to her coaching.” Accepting the 2023 Missouri State High School Activities Association trophy for the Lady Eagles was LaForge. The senior has accepted the challenge all season of playing the opponents number one seed in representing Grain Valley on the court. “Coming into play today we wanted to knock out at least two doubles wins to set the table. When we got three it was huge, and we were proud of Barnes and Thurn for winning (the third seed double match). I am happy that the season gets to continue with this group of girls,” LaForge said. Barnes and Thurn’s success during their doubles match was promoted by well-placed shots and extending volleys with their hustle. The outcome of which was an 8-3 doubles match win. “It has been an honor and big deal for me to get to play varsity doubles. At the end of the day, tennis is about having fun and I enjoy playing doubles with Cate (Barnes). We have improved our communication and placement of the ball the longer we have played together,” Thurn said. The Lady Eagles tennis team continues with Class 2 Sectional 3 State Tournament play on Monday, October 9th.  The Lady Eagles brought home the district championship October 5th. Left to right: Senior Kate Unrein, senior Finley LaForge, senior Kylee Bragaw, senior Emma Thiessen, junior Brooklyn Spencer, junior Cate Barnes, and sophomore Delaney Thurn. Photo credit: Valley News staff  Assistant coach Jessica Williams and head coach Randy Draper celebrate the team’s district win. Photo credit: Valley News staff  Senior Kylee Bragaw (left) and senior Finley LaForge (right) won their doubles match during Thursday's district championship. Photo credit: Valley News staff  Left: Sophomore Delaney Thurn and junior Cate Barnes celebrate a point during their winning doubles match against Capital City. Photo credit: Valley News staff  Junior Cate Barnes returns a serve during her doubles match with sophomore Delaney Thurn. Photo credit: Valley News staff  Comments are closed.
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